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The Bloomberg, Weicker, D’Amore Industrial/Political Complex

The Greenwich Times is reporting that former senator and governor Lowell Weicker would enthusiastically support the presidential bid of New York Mayor and fellow multi-billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

"I think he is head and shoulders the best candidate to be president of the United States. I think he'll find lots of support wherever,” Weicker said.

There is a problem though: Over at The Politico, Roger Simon is reporting that Bloomberg has given the kibosh to third party enthusiasts such as Weicker, whose former chief aide and Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Tom D’Amore may possibly be angling for a new political prospect after his latest venture, propelling Greenwich senatorial hopeful into current Sen. Joe Lieberman’s seat, proved disappointing.

“Asked if there were any circumstances under which he would run,” Simon reported, "Bloomberg replied: ‘If everyone in the world was dead and I was the only one alive, sure.’”

That’s a “No.”

However, in politics “No’” not infrequently metamorphoses into “Maybe” and then into “Yes,” provided the naysayer has sufficient funds on hand to prevent him from entering the poorhouse at the conclusion of the campaign.

Weicker, the Greenwich Times reported, “said he spoke to Bloomberg about a month ago and urged him to run but doesn't expect the former longtime Democrat to make an announcement until early next year when the field of candidates is winnowed.

"'I think that his track record is just outstanding,' Weicker said. 'I think he has the resources if he wants to run for president.'"

Greenwichers such as Weicker and Lamont call the money they dispose of for political purposes “resources.” And, for sure, Bloomberg has billions of resources. Lamont had lot’s of resources to dump into his failed campaign; so, too, with Bloomberg. Apparently, the campaign reform legislation that has been so effective in decoupling campaign spending from political parties does not prevent billionaires from purchasing elections.

Bloomberg’s seeming unambiguous “No” has led some political handicappers to suppose that Weicker’s enthusiasm is but a prelude to D’Amore’s involvement in a future Bloomberg presidential campaign. Certainly Bloomberg has resources enough to hire D’Amore’s as a political consultant. D’Amore’s firm, Doyle, D'Amore and Balducci did wonders for Lamont, and D'Amore's attachment to parties is as ephemeral as Bloomberg's.

“D'Amore said the Lamont campaign pays his firm ‘seven or eight thousand dollars a month’ to consult on ‘strategic planning and communications strategy,” Paul Bass reported during Lamont’s failed campaign. “He (D’Amore) said he did re-register for one day as a Republican, in 2000, to vote for John McCain in that year's presidential primary. He then immediately returned his registration to independent.”

Bloomberg, who changed his party registration from Democrat to Republican to run for the mayoralty of New York, now has switched from Republican to Independent. This switcheroo has set off a firestorm of supposition.

Bloomberg has become an independent, Simon observes archly, “because it is the easiest way for him to become president of the United States.

“In politics, this is what we call principle.”

In politics, if you have lots of money, principle is no bar to election.

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